Saturday, January 10, 2009

Croup warning

So, if you haven't heard about Cade's battle with croup I though I'd post it here too, since the info given by the hospital is so important....

Jan 6, 2009: We just got home from Emerg after Cade developed croup. He "barked" a few times last night but seemed fine. He woke up this morning with laboured breathing, "barking" and a hoarse voice. Given my lung condition I took him in to the bathroom and steamed us up for 20 mins. The laboured breathing and hoarse voice cleared up but I though I should stay with him for the day and called work/daycare to let them know. We saw his pediatrician at 12:00 and he said to call 911 if he has any further difficulty breathing, but that he should be able to go back to daycare tomorrow if he seemed to get better with the med he prescribed (Prednasone). He said to take him outside several times if Cade was calm about it. At 4:00pm we finally came home after stints in stores and parking lots. His lips turned blue (darker) and his face turned pale blue. He could hardly breathe, he was "barking" and had trouble talking at all. He felt like he was having a seizure, he was shaking very badly. I called 911. They were here in no more than 90 seconds. Took him to Emerg, his colour started returning to normal. His BP and heart rate were high (not dangerously so) and his oxygen was low (also not dangerously so). It was SO busy, so we waited about 2 hours for a doctor. He seemed fine, I seemed nuts.

We saw a great Emerg pediatrician who said: "he has severe croup, he was in respiratory distress and could have died". It didn't really register until about 10 mins ago. But from the medical side, here is the info:

1. A "barking" cough2. A difficult time inhaling3. A hoarse voice

Add all of these and you become HIGH risk. By HIGH risk I mean death. This is respiratory distress. This is LIFE THREATENING. I was told that severe croup is never a doctors visit, and always an Emerg visit, by ambulance-no driving your child. Call 911.

Cade was in respiratory distress twice today, but when his lips turned blue-it was the scariest thing that has EVER happened to me. If your child has these three symptoms, take them outside in the cold immediately (the analogy that he used is that the cold air is like an ice pak on the larnyx) and call 911 if they are not better in a few minutes. Also-because it was severe, he is to stay out of daycare for a few days, mostly so we can monitor his breathing. He was given a strong steroid, Decsamethasone which was 8 times more potent than the Prednasone. It should last for the acute phase-3 days, but he could "bark" for 3 weeks. They also asked us to participate in a double blind study, so we got a current HIGHLY detailed sheet on managing it. He is ok now, sleeping finally, and mommy will be sleeping on the floor of his room, 2 feet away from his face. Daddy has been 4 hrs north for work today but I think he plans on heading home tonight or tomorrow, since he can't focus after I told him what the doctor said.

Since then...Cade has developed the cold that was obviously underlying the croup. He's been congested and snotty, as well as feverish. Then he gave it to me. Thank you Cade! We've not been illness free in this house since the start of December. Kids!

So aside from all that, and a week of no sleep-we're good. I never though I'd be thankful for being asthmatic, it's always been something I detested. But now-I'm so thankful! If I wasn't asthmatic I wouldn't have heard the sound in his chest (so faintly) and I wouldn't have given him the Prednasone right away, and he probably wouldn't be here. It took me two days to even wrap my head around this.

About Me

1. Married mommy who adores her boy.
2. Kristian, pronounced without the A, or Shantelle if we met before 1992-or you know me through my family. Hence, KiS-Kristian is Shantelle.
3. Animal lover, shameless shopping addict, vegetarian and lackey.